“Among our alumni are some of the best trial lawyers in the country. They are committed to the idea and are giving generously of their time and treasure to help us launch this institute, which is a major step forward for the Law School.”

Makau Mutua, dean, Law School

University at Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — An ambitious initiative of the University
at Buffalo Law School will help students and legal practitioners
develop their skills in the critical task of advocating for their
clients.

The Advocacy Institute, to be funded by the Law School, the
university and private donors, will build on UB Law’s recent
success in the moot court and trial advocacy programs that give
students real-world experience in trial and appellate advocacy.
Plans for the institute envision an expansion and further
strengthening of those programs; new courses on advocacy topics;
training for faculty in the best ways to teach these skills; and
continuing education opportunities for members of the local
bar.

“Among our alumni are some of the best trial lawyers in
the country,” says UB Law Dean Makau Mutua. “They are
committed to the idea and are giving generously of their time and
treasure to help us launch this institute, which is a major step
forward for the Law School.”

One goal, says Charles P. Ewing, vice dean for academic affairs,
is to raise UB Law’s profile as one of the nation’s top
law schools for advocacy training.

“In our national reputation for advocacy training, we have
come so far in such a short time that it’s not too ambitious
to think we can be one of the top schools in the country,”
Ewing says. “The skills that we teach in our advocacy courses
are skills that benefit all lawyers, whether they intend to do
trial or appellate practice or not. Our students learn to think and
speak on their feet; they learn to be in an adversarial situation
and how to handle it with grace. It’s a great
experience.”

UB Law currently runs three national moot court competitions
— the Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition, one of the
largest in the nation; the Herbert J. Wechsler National Criminal
Moot Court Competition; and the Albert R. Mugel National Moot Court
Tax Competition — as well as the intramural Charles S.
Desmond Moot Court Competition. Teams of UB law students also
travel nationally to other trial technique competitions.

Another major aim of the institute, Ewing says, is to train
faculty members — both full-time professors and the
practitioners who serve as adjunct professors — to be more
effective teachers of advocacy skills. “Our hope,” he
says, “is to bring in nationally known trial and appellate
advocacy attorneys and instructors to teach our faculty to be
better instructors. Another goal is to send members of our faculty
to programs around the country to improve their advocacy and
teaching skills.”

The first instance of such faculty training will come April 5,
when two of the best-known advocacy professors in the nation
— Charles Rose of Stetson University Law School and Zelda
Harris of Loyola Law School — will work with students,
faculty and moot court coaches, offering critiques and teaching
tools.

Under the auspices of the Advocacy Institute, the Law School
also expects to upgrade its technological capabilities, upgrading
its Francis J. Letro Courtroom with state-of-the-art technology and
equipping selected classrooms for easy conversion to mock
courtrooms.

An advisory board of prominent attorneys, judges and legal
scholars will help guide the mission of the institute. .

Since its founding in 1887, UB Law School — the State
University of New York system’s only law school — has
established an excellent reputation and is widely regarded as a
leader in legal education. Its cutting-edge curriculum provides
both a strong theoretical foundation and the practical tools
graduates need to succeed in an international and competitive
marketplace, wherever they choose to practice. A special emphasis
on interdisciplinary studies, public service and opportunities for
hands-on clinical education makes UB Law unique among the
nation’s premier public law schools.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public
university, a flagship institution in the State University of New
York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus.
UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic
interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and
professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at
Buffalo is a member of the Association of American
Universities.